Rapid increases in the mobile subscriber base and the recent emergence of new applications (e.g., MMOG (Multimedia Online Gaming), mobile TV, Web 2.0, high definition video streaming), combined with an increasing level of penetration of data-intensive devices (e.g., smart phones, broadband enabled laptops, tablets and other devices), has resulted in the explosion of internet data traffic carried by mobile networks. To increase the capacity of a cellular network, small cell deployments are being investigated vigorously by industry and standardization bodies.
Generally, small cells (e.g., “nanocells” or “femtocells”) may be personal miniature base stations installed on the subscriber's premises for providing cellular services within a home or enterprise. In contrast with a typical mobile macro cell which might have a range of up to several tens of kilometers, small cells may be low-powered radio access nodes that operate in licensed and unlicensed spectrums with a range of, for example, between ten meters to several hundred meters. Typically, small cells may be connected to the Internet and the cellular operator's core network via a small cell gateway (“SC-GW”).
As an example, small cells are being implemented in wireless networks implementing the 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standards. In 3GPP LTE standards, a small cell is termed as a Home eNodeB (HeNB) or small cell base station (SCBS). Throughout this document, HeNB and SCBS are used interchangeably to refer generically to a small cell or small cell base station. The HeNB is connected to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) via the SC-GW.
Each SCBS may cater to multiple user equipments (UEs) or mobile terminals under its coverage area. UEs in a coverage area of one SCBS (e.g., within a given cell) may be subjected to interference from the UEs or mobile terminals from other SCBS coverage area or from surrounding macro base stations coverage area. As the number of UEs or mobile terminals increases, the magnitude of the interference may also increase. This interference may affect the quality of service of the application packets sent from UEs or mobile terminals to the SCBS, or vice versa, due to packet corruption or packet drop.
According to a conventional technique that has attempted to address this interference problem between different cells, neighboring SCBSs exchange power control and interference coordination messages with each other. Based on this message exchange, interference coordination takes place. However, such exchanging of interference coordination messages between SCBSs every time the resource allocation is done may be overwhelming for the SCBS given that, in some instances, SCBSs may be embedded devices with low capacity and processing power.